9/3/2006
Happy to jump ship
Denver Broncos wide receiver Javon Walker watched the Cincinnati Bengals trounce his former Packers team last week and was asked what he thought. "Obviously, we have a chance to be a Super Bowl team," Walker told the Denver Post. "Obviously, they have a chance to win four games." Walker, disgruntled in Green Bay, was traded in April to the Broncos for a second-round draft pick. "It just made me happy to know I'm here and not dealing with that anymore," Walker said. "This is a winning organization, and I'm better off here." Walker said he wants to see certain Packers players perform well and mentioned Al Harris, Charles Woodson, Bubba Franks and Robert Ferguson. (Edit: Where's the Love for Brett y'all? Bite me Javon!)
Third-round jinx
When Thompson cut defensive lineman Kenny Peterson, he rid the Packers of all of Mike Sherman's third-round draft picks. Sherman, the former coach and general manager, ran the Packers' drafts from 2002-2004. He drafted five players in those third rounds: safety Marques Anderson in 2002, Peterson in 2003, and cornerback Joey Thomas, d-tackle Donnell Washington and punter B.J. Sander in 2004. That left the Packers with only one of nine players from the 2003 draft class. That's first-round pick Nick Barnett, their starting middle linebacker. Thompson kept 10 defensive linemen, including two rookies (sixth-round draft pick Johnny Jolly and undrafted free agent Jason Hunter). Peterson was bothered by an ankle injury throughout training camp, and appeared to aggravate it Friday against the Titans. "He had the injury at a difficult time," Thompson said. "We had a young kid (Hunter) that came on and played really well."
Injured reserve
A pair of promising undrafted rookies, tackle Josh Bourke and running back Arliss Beach, were placed on season-ending injured reserve. Thompson said doctors discovered a back injury that would have kept Bourke out for a significant amount of time, perhaps all season. *Bourke missed the final two preseason games due what was believed to be a calf injury, but it turned out his back was the issue. *Beach sustained a high-ankle sprain in the Aug. 28 game at Cincinnati. "It's a high-ankle sprain, and those things take forever," Thompson said. "It's a doozy, I think."
Kickers survive
It was hardly a surprise, but kicker Dave Rayner and punter Jon Ryan survived the final cut and almost certainly will kick in the regular-season opener against Chicago on Sept. 10 at Lambeau Field. Though Thompson has had a string of kickers and punters in for workouts the last few weeks, there appears little chance he will make a change before the opener. "I never say never," Thompson said, "but I wouldn't anticipate change there."
Extra Points
Thompson said fullback William Henderson should be ready to play in the opener. Henderson had a knee scope on Aug. 21 to remove loose cartilage and missed the last two preseason games. … Teams can start signing players to the practice squad at 11 a.m. today, when the waiver period ends. Among those the Packers may retain for their eight-man developmental unit are safeties Atari Bigby and Tra Boger, fullback Ben Brown, receiver Chris Francies, cornerback Patrick Dendy and defensive end Dave Tollefson.
Pick-and-choose time
GM scours waiver, free agent lists
By Tom Silverstein
journalsentinel.com
Rather than waste the time of players he wasn't going to keep anyway, Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson left his 53-man roster open-ended. After releasing 19 players and putting three on injured reserve, the Packers trimmed down from 73 players to 51, two below the NFL-mandated limit. Contrary to some corporate practices these days, the Packers aren't going lean. Thompson merely left the positions open because he and his personnel department are combing through the waiver and free-agent lists to find players who can potentially upgrade their roster. With only four wide receivers and eight offensive linemen, odds are the Packers will pick up one of each from the scrap heap created when final cuts were made Saturday. Thompson wasn't guaranteeing anything, but it's a good bet that by sometime today the roster will be filled. "I'm sure we won't be at 51 forever," the understated Thompson said. "During the course of the season all teams will fluctuate between 53 and 50. Right now we felt comfortable doing what we did today." In saying he was comfortable, Thompson meant he didn't think the Packers unnecessarily cut anybody just to keep two roster spots open. In the next 48 hours or so he'll have a chance to fill the remaining spots with players he deems better than the ones let go. (MORE)
Roster is a work in progress
Thompson's not done
Molding the 2006 Packers
By Pete Dougherty
greenbaypressgazette.com
After a full training camp, Ted Thompson isn't finished making over the Green Bay Packers' 2006 roster. The team's general manager reduced his team on final cutdowns to 51 players, two below the NFL maximum, and it's likely he'll fill one or both of those spots as soon as today, when released players are awarded on waivers. Thompson's moves included cutting two injury-prone players once regarded as promising prospects, halfback Najeh Davenport and second-year cornerback Mike Hawkins, as well as one 2006 draft pick of note, fourth-rounder Cory Rodgers. The Packers selected Rodgers to fill a major void at kick and punt returner. But of at least as much interest were the areas he left short on the roster: receiver, where he kept only four players when most teams keep five or six; offensive line, where he kept only eight players instead of nine or 10; and safety, where he kept only three players instead of at least four. (MORE)
Injured Blackmon beats injured Hawkins
Out of roster spot
By Rob Demovsky / greenbaypressgazette.com
The Green Bay Packers think rookie cornerback Will Blackmon could play in the next month, so instead of leaving him on the physically unable to perform list, they added him to their active roster on Saturday instead of another injured cornerback, Mike Hawkins. Hawkins, a fifth-round draft pick in 2005 who came in with loads of talent, was placed on injured reserve, but his agent, Alex Balic, said his client was waived injured, meaning his short tenure with the Packers is over. Hawkins had a series of nagging injuries over the last 16 months, including a bruised quadriceps in Friday's preseason finale against the Tennessee Titans. He missed the first two preseason games with patellar tendonitis. Last season, he had minor knee surgery before his rookie training camp, and during the season had to miss time or drop out of games because of knee, ankle and groin injuries. By keeping another injured player, Blackmon, the Packers indicated they had grown tired of Hawkins' injury problems and no longer felt his ability and 4.28-second speed in the 40-yard dash was worth keeping. (MORE)
Davenport runs out of time
By Jesse Osborne / madison.com
The Green Bay Packers finally ran out of patience with running back Najeh Davenport. The oft-injured Davenport was the biggest name among 19 final cuts made Saturday as the Packers moved into compliance with the NFL-mandated, 53-player limit in advance of next week's regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears. "It was difficult," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said of the decision to release Davenport. "He's been here, he's done a good job, he did everything we asked. "Najeh, I'm sure, will be working somewhere." The 6-foot-1, 247-pound Davenport has been productive when he's played - he rushed for 1,068 yards and seven touchdowns on 217 carries over four seasons with the Packers - but durability and availability have been constant issues. Davenport, who was the team's No. 2 running back for much of his tenure when healthy, appeared in just 39 of 64 possible regular-season games. (MORE)
Davenport Axed, Team roster at 51
By Bob McGinn / journalsentinel.com
The Green Bay Packers don't know who is going to lighten the load for running back Ahman Green this season, but now it won't be Najeh Davenport. Davenport, an old-fashioned pile-driver with a long history of injury, was released Saturday as the Packers took a novel approach by cutting down to 51 players, two shy of the mandatory 53-man roster limit. General manager Ted Thompson waived 19 players and in effect said goodbye to cornerback Mike Hawkins, one of three players placed on injured reserve. Thompson and his staff of scouts intended to scour the waiver wire late Saturday night and into this morning. Barring a trade, the Packers were expected to claim at least two players by the 11 a.m. deadline and then know the result of those claims later in the day. (MORE)
Rodgers flames out
Fourth-round draft pick cut after terrible showing
By Bob McGinn / journalsentinel.com
You've got to be really, really bad in the era of the salary cap not to make the team as a player drafted in the fourth round. Cory Rodgers fit the bill. The Green Bay Packers swallowed hard and cut their losses Saturday, releasing Rodgers less than two months after giving him a signing bonus of $465,120. General manager Ted Thompson drafted the junior out of Texas Christian confident that he would fill the team's glaring need for a return specialist and develop in time as a big-play receiver. Instead, Rodgers fumbled almost as many punts as he fielded and didn't know what he was doing as a wide receiver. "In terms of critiquing my job, which is to evaluate talent, that was something I wished would have worked out better," Thompson said. "It was just everything. It just didn't work out this time." Because of the mistake, the Packers will be forced to count $348,840 against their salary cap for Rodgers in 2007. If, however, another team claims him, that $348,840 would accelerate immediately onto the team's cap this year. (MORE)
Thompson cuts Rodgers, his losses
By Dylan B. Tomlinson / postcrescent.com
No NFL general manager likes to admit he made a mistake. When the Green Bay Packers selected Cory Rodgers in the fourth round of April's draft, Ted Thompson thought he was getting a punt and kickoff returner who he could count on for years. What he got was a player who couldn't field a punt. Thompson admitted that mistake when he cut Rodgers on Saturday. "Certainly, in terms of critiquing my job, which is to evaluate talent, certainly that was something that I wish had worked out better," Thompson said. (MORE)
Thompson gets rid of trash
in building younger team
By Chris Havel / GBPressGazette.com
The Green Bay Packers reduced their roster to 51 players Saturday. Apparently, General Manager Ted Thompson decided there weren't 53 worth keeping, and after training camp and the preseason games, I can't say I disagree. This is the first time in recent memory, and perhaps the first time since I began covering the team in 1991, that there isn't a single player that deserved a better fate. That is rare, and somewhat sad, but undeniably true. Perennial disappointments Najeh Davenport, Rod Gardner and Kenny Peterson were like clutter in the garage. They took up space but served no purpose. They were first-team flotsam, with no 11th-hour stay of execution in sight, and rightfully so. Davenport and Peterson were injury-prone underachievers, bona fide double threats compared to Gardner, who merely underachieved. (MORE)
Published by PackerPundit On Sunday, September 03, 2006 at 10:43 AM.
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